Total Project Value

ARENA Program

Lead Organisation

Start Date

Project Partners

Location

Status

Project Basics

ARENA Program

Lead Organisation

Jemena

Start Date

Sep 2018

Project Partners

None

Location

New South Wales, Sydney

Status

Current

Summary

The project involves designing and constructing a Power-to-Gas (P2G) facility which will source renewable electricity and convert it into hydrogen via electrolysis. The majority of the hydrogen produced will be injected into the gas network, providing enough energy to meet the cooking, heating and hot-water requirements of approximately 250 homes. A portion of the hydrogen will be utilised, via a gas engine generator, for electricity generation, with the remainder stored for use in an onsite Hydrogen Refuelling Station (HRS).

The project aims to support the long-term decarbonisation of Australia’s energy market by demonstrating hydrogen, produced from excess intermittent renewable energy sources, can be both stored in the gas distribution network and used as a clean fuel for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

How the project works

A 500kW electrolyser will be constructed in western Sydney to convert solar and wind power into hydrogen via electrolysis.

The five year trial will see hydrogen injected and stored in the Jemena Gas Network, Australia’s largest gas distribution network, to demonstrate how existing gas pipeline infrastructure can be repurposed to store excess renewable energy.

The trial will explore how this approach could be adopted more broadly across NSW and lay the foundations for a future renewable energy grid.

Area of innovation

The P2G facility and five year trial is the largest of its kind in Australia. It involves converting ‘green’ electricity into a clean fuel (hydrogen) via electrolysis. The project will be one of the first P2G trials to inject hydrogen into the gas distribution network in Australia and will focus on addressing the technical, regulatory, environmental and economic barriers to the production and use of hydrogen in gas distribution and transmission networks.

Benefit

The project is considered an important stepping stone to support the decarbonisation of Australia’s energy market by demonstrating a long term storage solution for intermittent renewable energy (both within the gas distribution networks as well as conversion to a clean fuel for hydrogen vehicles).

The Jemena Gas Network is capable of storing as much energy as 8 million Powerwall batteries for weeks or months rather than minutes or hours typical of lithium-ion battery storage. The successful demonstration of hydrogen storage in existing infrastructure is likely to support further renewable investments.